Local High Schools Participate in National Walk Out/Walk Up

National organizers say nearly 3,000 walkouts are planned in the biggest demonstration yet of the student activism that has emerged following the massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Posted: Mar. 14, 2018 8:59 AM

Updated: Mar. 14, 2018 10:02 AM

Posted By: Ashley Hall

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. -- Mazama High School is one of many participating in a national walk out/walk up happening Wednesday, March 14. Thousands of students across the U.S. are expected to put their pencils down and walk out of school to demonstrate against gun violence.

At Mazama, the assembly will track 17 minutes on the basketball score clock for the 17 victims in Florida. With each minute that ticks by, students will hang the name of a victim from Parkland. Students will pose for one large photo, which they will sign and send to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High as a show of solidarity. Additionally, each Mazama student will receive a small card. They will be tasked with performing 17 acts of kindness, write the acts of kindness on the cards and turn them in at the end of the day. The school will make a mural featuring all the ways students are helping one another.

"We're just trying to pull together rather than divide us," said Mazama Principal Steve Morosin. "We just wanted to do something positive."

Klamath County schools decided to use the call for a national walk-out on March 14 as an opportunity to help students, rather than house a protest.

Mazama and Henley will both hold assemblies at the start of school, around 9 a.m., on Wednesday, March 14.

At Henley, students will sign a banner which they will send to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to show support for their fellow students. "This is a student-driven event," Henley Principal Jack Lee said, emphasizing students wanted to choose kindness and encourage everyone to "walk up" instead of "walk out." Walk up to students who need their help, support or a smile.

During Henley's assembly, Klamath County District Attorney Eve Costello will speak about the events in Florida. The assembly will feature a 17-second moment of silence. A spotlight will shine on the desks with the names of the 17 victims and white balloons. Later in the day Costello will meet with smaller groups of students to further discuss the dangers of violence, bullying and drugs.

Grants Pass and North Medford high schools are also expecting a student walk-out.

National organizers say nearly 3,000 walkouts are planned in the biggest demonstration yet of the student activism that has emerged following the massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The protests have drawn mixed reactions from school administrators. While some applaud students for taking a stand, others threatened discipline.

An Ohio superintendent says students at a high school that had a shooting last year could face school detention or more serious discipline for leaving class to protest gun violence in conjunction with nationwide student walkouts Wednesday.

West Liberty-Salem Superintendent Kraig Hissong tells the Springfield News-Sun that campus isn't the place for political demonstrations. Officials there warned students they could face consequences for walking out, but some teens say that didn't deter them.

They are tracking 17 minutes on the basketball score clock for the 17 victims in Florida. With each minute that ticks by, students will hang the name of a victim from Parkland. Students will pose for one large photo, which they will sign and send to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High as a show of solidarity. Additionally, each Mazama student will receive a small card. They will be tasked with performing 17 acts of kindness, write the acts of kindness on the cards and turn them in at the end of the day. The school will make a mural featuring all the ways students are helping one another.

Students were pouring out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, as part of the nationwide school walkout against gun violence.

The school was the site of a shooting last month that killed 17 people and spurred a protest movement calling for tighter gun control and stronger school safety.

The students walked out at 10 a.m. local time and planned to stay out for 17 minutes, one for each victim of the shooting.

In an online livestream, David Hogg, a senior at the school who's become one of the public faces of protests against gun violence, criticized politicians for not doing more as he walked amid a mass of people.

Hundreds of students at Parkland High School, outside Allentown, Pennsylvania, walked out of class and headed to the auditorium for a rally dubbed #parklandforparkland.

That school and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, share more than a name.

Stoneman Douglass freshman Daniel Duff, who survived the shooting by hiding in a closet but lost seven of his friends, is the cousin of Collin and Kyleigh Duff, who are brother and sister and go to Parkland High in Pennsylvania.

The Duff siblings have been selling #parklandforparkland bracelets, raising more than $10,000 for the Florida shooting victims, and Daniel Duff described what it was like to live through the shooting in a video that was shown at the rally.

Parkland High students called for stricter gun laws, read short biographies of each of the 17 shooting victims of last month's shooting and observed a moment of silence at 10 a.m.In Washington, thousands of students gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House, holding colorful signs and cheering in support of gun control.

The students in front of the White House chanted, "Hey, hey, ho, ho. The NRA has got to go!" and "What do we want? Gun control! When do we want it? Now!"

President Trump was traveling in Los Angeles and was not in the White House during the demonstrations.